Aaron Gordon’s Christmas Day began out as merry, as the ability ahead helped the Denver Nuggets defeat the Golden State Warriors on Monday with a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double.
The remainder of the vacation did not go as deliberate, nonetheless, and now the reigning NBA champions will likely be with out the three-time Slam Dunk Contest competitor for the foreseeable future.
Gordon was chosen fourth total by the Orlando Magic within the 2014 NBA Draft after one season on the College of Arizona. Gordon and the Wildcats earned a No. 1 seed in that yr’s NCAA Division I Males’s Basketball Match and superior to the Remaining 4 earlier than falling to Wisconsin in additional time, 64-63.
He spent his first six-plus professional seasons with the Magic earlier than being traded to the Nuggets in March 2021.
After taking part in in simply 5 playoff video games throughout his tenure in Orlando, Gordon has teamed up with star level guard Jamal Murray, two-time MVP heart Nikola Jokic and others to get Denver to the postseason in every of the years since he arrived from the Jap Convention. After the Nuggets have been eradicated within the second spherical of the playoffs in 2021 and the primary spherical in 2022, the staff put all of it collectively of their championship run final season.
Gordon performed in all 20 playoff video games for Denver final spring/summer season and was notably good within the Finals towards the Miami Warmth, posting 14.0 factors, 7.4 rebounds and three.0 assists per sport throughout 5 contests, together with a .604/.556/.467 taking pictures line.
In 28 video games this season, the 28-year-old is third on the staff in rebounds (6.9) and minutes per contest (32.0) and fourth in factors (13.6) and assists per sport (3.4). Gordon can also be second solely behind Jokic in offensive rebounds with a profession excessive 2.8 per sport.
Monday was the large man’s sixth double-double of the season and ninth straight sport the place he scored in double figures.
